There’s a better way for guests to earn rewards and free nights than trying to earn points at hotel chains. Make a few phone calls and here are the kind of numbers you can expect:

Rewarded 10 Times Faster than at Marriott

Picking up the phone, we called Marriott Rewards with a standard request to earn a free stay. We asked about booking a $209-per-night room at the Marriott Suites, which would get us a total of 627 points per night. In order to compile enough points to get a free night at their lowest level, we would need 7,500 points. That means we would have to spend $2,500, staying about 11.9 nights in order to get that free night reward.

Let’s compare this to how you can get a free night at a bed and breakfast and also look at a few other added values. When it comes to value, comfort, and individuality, it’s hard to top a good bed and breakfast (B&B) or country inn. And if you really want to make your dollar go further, consider two things:

Right now you can get a free night at any one of 1,560 bed and breakfast inns when you purchase the first night at the regular rate. Why do the do this? Simple. B&Bs and country inns are smaller than your average hotel and they have smaller advertising spends. By offer a free night during certain times of the year, they can incent guests and earn additional exposure for their property.

The website iLoveinns.com offers this Buy-One-Night-Get-The-Second-Night-Free program. The typical amount a traveler can save is $140, but the savings can be much more. Compare this to the nearly 12 nights you have to purchase at a Marriott in order to get your free night or even their lesser promotions like a $25 coupon for gas.

The amount you save, of course, varies depending on the property and room you choose in the free night program. You can save up to $650 and it’s an immediate savings, not something you have to wait for weeks or months to earn.

You can save even more when you take into consideration your meal expense. The bed and breakfast, after all, comes with breakfast. But many inns also take it a step further an offer various free business services and such items as free drinks or snacks (and not with a mini-bar price).

Get More For Your Dollar and More From Your Travel Experience With a Bed and Breakfast

Armed with this knowledge, for instance, take this Craftsman-Style California Bed and Breakfast, the Inn at Seventeen Mile Drive in the heart of the Monterey Peninsula.

Choose from rooms with views of the sea or garden in the main house of this three-building bed and breakfast. Or, enjoy the oak and redwoods in the chalet and cottage rooms. Unwind in the spa beneath the towering trees or the gardens whose guests also include the occasional deer and monarch butterfly. Maybe sip some champagne near the fountains and koi ponds. With the Buy-One-Night-Get-One-Night-Free program, guests will save anywhere from $145 to $290 at this lovely property.

Hard to beat an excellent experience and an excellent value. When you’re trying to decide how to find that next free-night perk, take a look at a property like that California bed and breakfast. The B&B free-night program is a superb travel value.